Franchisee Profile: Hugh Sutherland of Greater D.C. and Northern Virginia

Franchisee Since: 2005
Franchise Location: Alexandria, DC, Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax Co.


How Hugh Sutherland Got Started With House Doctor…

Hugh Sutherland has a history of entrepreneurship. He founded a company called Washington Courier, a package delivery company based in Washington DC. He developed the concept and grew the business. About 7 years ago, he sold it to pursue other career interests. In the interim before becoming a House Doctor franchisee, Hugh continued his involvement in real estate, fixing up and selling homes. It was at this time that Hugh started to notice a trend in the professionalism of handymen in his area. Whenever Hugh needed repairs done to his home, he called local handymen to come and fix the problems and most the time, those professionals turned out to be unprofessional, unreliable and inefficient. That’s when Hugh got the idea to look into business ownership in the handyman field.

Hugh was faced with two options. The first, start his own independent business or second, become a franchisee of an already-existing business. He chose the latter because he could use the knowledge of the support staff already in place to help him develop his business quicker than he could on his own.

What Intrigued Hugh Sutherland about House Doctor…

Out of all the franchises in this field that Hugh researched, House Doctors was by far the most ambitious, serious and professional according to Hugh. He was delighted and impressed by their ability to balance priorities and support his individual efforts through marketing, website development and management, SEM, and negotiation of contracts with vendors.

Something Interesting About Hugh Sutherland’s Business…

Despite economic conditions, Hugh has seen a 25% increase in his business this year. He equates the uptick in his business to a solid influx of repeat customers, people keeping their homes and fixing them up, people working harder, staying busier and still needing those repairs done, as well as the economy starting to pick up.

Hugh has 10 years of experience in the home improvement industry behind him, and realizes that customer retention is the key to growing a business. In order to do so, he provides superior customer service, including 24/7 support to answer calls and schedule appointments; he hires handymen in his territory in order to ensure reliability and calls his customers to give him updates on their repair services.

ABOUT HOUSE DOCTORS:

For more than 12 years, House Doctors, a 90-plus-unit professional handyman service, has brought commercial property owners and homeowners high standards of customer service, reliability, and quality workmanship.  Every House Doctors handyman location is independently owned and operated. Today, House Doctors continues to expand throughout the United States by offering franchise opportunities.  For more information on House Doctors, visit www.housedoctors.com.